Veterinary Services

Loui's story

Meet Loui, a 16-month-old Seal Point Mitted Ragdoll, who received lifesaving surgery in our Small Animal Centre.

His owner noticed something unusual in his eye, which led his vet to diagnose him with jaundice and unusual blood liver parameters. Loui was referred to us, where our Internal Medicine clinicians were able to confirm that he had severe liver dysfunction. An ultrasound showed a severely blocked bile duct leading to the intestine and Loui was rushed in for surgery.

Daniela Murgia, one of our soft tissue surgeons, was unable to save Loui’s main bile duct. This meant that Loui had to undergo a more complex and invasive procedure in order to restore his liver function. Daniela and her team were met by multiple difficulties, but in the end they were able to reconstruct the link between the gall bladder and the gut and stabilise Loui, who had developed severe complications during the surgery which could have been fatal.

Loui had a lot of fight in him and despite the complexities of his case; slowly managed to pull through against the odds.

Following his surgery Loui required a high level of aftercare, which involved our team of dedicated nurses syringe-feeding him recovery food at regular intervals. Loui’s owner had to learn how to do this before he could go home, as he was still too weak to eat on his own (pictured right, a very poorly Loui recovering at home after the operation).

Loui’s owner said: “We were so worried about our poor Loui, he means the world to us - as do our other members of our feline family, and I’m sure other pet owners can relate to this! We visited him as much as possible whilst he was in the intensive care unit.

“The staff at the AHT were just incredible, he wouldn’t be here now if it wasn’t for them. The AHT is an amazing charity and the level of care and support is second to none. We are extremely grateful.”

After a lot of care and attention, Loui made a fantastic recovery and we are very pleased to have been able to help such a lovely cat. (Pictured below, Loui five months later fully recovered.)

The Animal Health Trust is a veterinary charity, based in Suffolk, which offers clinical referral services and diagnostic testing for horses, dogs and cats in East Anglia, across the UK and internationally. Through its research programmes it develops new diagnostic tests, treatments and vaccines to help thousands of animals.